Articles
"Make Meaningful Work"
Featured Article
Mentoring to Lead Meaningful Cultures
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
October 4, 2021
In the 21st century, work is busy and often distracted. This reality can deprive us of moments to stop, pause, and take the time necessary for reflection and consider the implications and importance of mentoring in leading meaningful cultures.
Elements of the Employee Experience: The Interview
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
July 5, 2021
With this article, we’ll kick off our new series about the employee experience, exploring the current state of various elements of the employee experience (EX) that people encounter at work...
Reflection: A Critical Practice for Leading Healthy Cultures
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
April 5, 2021
A common observation within organizations of various sizes is that people generally get caught up with being busy at work.
Making Meaningful Business Propositions
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
January 4, 2021
Starting a business, running a business, and sustaining a business’s success implies that we have considered how to make a meaningful business proposition.
The Practice Spotting Tool for Meaning Makers
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
September 7, 2020
Imagine illustrating a timeline of your own life and work experience. You might start with a minute, then an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, and so on.
Foundational Practices for Great Teamwork
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
June 8, 2020
Twenty-three years ago, Dan performed in a production of Neil Simon’s play Laughter on the 23rd Floor, playing the character Milt Fields.
Understanding Cultures
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
March 9, 2020
The term culture describes the behaviors of people in organizations. Sometimes, as UX professionals, we are outsiders and organizations invite us in to observe their organizational culture.
Sparkle Studio and the Make Meaningful Work Show
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
September 23, 2019
This year, we have been experimenting with the creation of a Sparkle Studio to house and produce a “Make Meaningful Work” show.
Creating Environments That Encourage Behaviors That Make Meaningful Work
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
March 18, 2019
In this article, we’ll examine the environments in which we live and work, taking a moment to reflect on how they make us feel.
Fostering Learning Environments to Generate Sparkle
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
December 3, 2018
Our environment refers to everything around us, including physical, chemical, and other natural forces. People constantly interact with their environment...
Connecting the Dots to Create Magic at the Intersections
By Daniel Szuc
June 11, 2018
When I was a young boy growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s, I often looked up into the vastness of space and all the stars in the night sky.
Reflections on Making Meaningful Work
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
November 20, 2017
We just presented at CanUX 2017, in Ottawa, Canada. Like all good conferences, Can UX created a place for community, conversations, learning, and connecting with local and global practitioners.
Guiding Practices for Making Meaningful Work
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
May 22, 2017
Recently, a group of about 30 technologists invited us to run a two-day client training workshop to teach them some best practices for making meaningful work and help them to kick start and sustain a UX practice on their projects.
A Manifesto for Maturing the Making of Meaningful Work, Part 1
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
January 9, 2017
On the projects we’ve worked on, it’s easy to get caught up in meeting deliverables—and the speed at which we need to deliver them—and the constant...
A Manifesto for Maturing the Making of Meaningful Work, Part 2
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
February 6, 2017
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we established the need for a manifesto for maturing the making of meaningful work, explained what you need to do to fulfill your intention of...
Make Your Work Meaningful and Go from Sleepwalking to Sparkle
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
May 31, 2016
The good energies a team brings to a new project can quickly get derailed if people do not feel they have a clear understanding of why they’re working on something.
Integrated Approaches to Constant Personal Learning, Improvement, and Maturity
By Josephine Wong, Daniel Szuc and Michael Davis Burchat
October 5, 2015
Large organizations are complex organisms with different combinations of roles, teams, and departments and are often political in nature.
Toward a Culture of Integrated Practice
By Daniel Szuc, Josephine Wong and Michael Davis Burchat
June 8, 2015
Frederick Winslow Taylor was a Quaker, so was repulsed by waste. With only a stopwatch and a clipboard, he set about inventing a productivity revolution.
Routines on Projects: Why They Deserve More Attention
By Daniel Szuc, Josephine Wong and Michael Davis Burchat
February 2, 2015
In our last article, we explored the elements that make up a mature UX practice and how they apply to project teams.
Deeper Understanding: Stories, Observations, and Insights
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
February 2, 2015
Have you ever been on a project where you conducted user interviews and got some answers, but didn't know why you were asking specific questions...
Holistic Thinking on Transitioning to a New Practice Framework
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
November 11, 2013
When Dan attended a UX conference in China at the end of 2012, the conference opened with some UX-maturity diagrams that showed how...
Designing the Future of Business
By Daniel Szuc and Josephine Wong
June 3, 2013
Recently, we’ve been thinking more about our UX practice, what we do, who we collaborate with, and the impact we would like to have...
Positive Design Impact
By Josephine Wong, Daniel Szuc
May 7, 2012
Recently, a client asked us to help one of their teams that was developing a new product. This is our story about that engagement.
The Design Workshop: Bringing It All Together
By Daniel Szuc, Josephine Wong
August 8, 2011
In this article, we’ll outline the key elements you need to plan and facilitate a design workshop to give you a better chance of success.
Walking Through Your Product Design With Stakeholders
By Daniel Szuc
June 4, 2007
You are the lead designer—or perhaps even the sole designer on a product team. You have just completed your product design...
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